"Water pipe" problems - anyone have an idea?

[TritonGlenn]

OK.... my house has "old pipe" syndrome. That's the only way I can describe it. My grandmothers house used to make this noise, and I never knew what it was.



My house is 16 years old, and I have all copper piping - no plastic, poly, etc... in my house.



It started about a week ago when I flushed the toilet in the master bathroom - I heard this sound that is hard to describe - kind of a "wheerrrump!" (high pitched, whiney). It started doing it every time we flushed the toilet, so I figured it was a toilet problem, and planned on replacing them anyway.



Well, now it makes the noise when I turn the water off in the sink of the master bath.... so I'm thinking it's piping related.



There is no noticable difference in water flow...



Anyone have a clue why this noise is being made???



All the best,

Glenn

 

[Jeffrey Durham]

Check under you home for pipes that have been fed through a floor joist and spray that expandable foam in the crack and that might clear up the "ghostly pipe sounds" I did that to my home but I do have pvc (did I say pvc sucks, yep it does) Jeff

 

[Mike Zechman]

Triton, a few things. what you are hearing is called surge, or water hammer. The weird thing is, its hard to nail down why its happening, so heres my questions for ya then I may be able to help.



Whats the water pressure in your house? do you have a well, or public water? Does the surge happen anywhere else in the house or just in the bathroom?



Some causes of surge:

bad impeller on pump(for a well) this would make noises throughout the house on various fixtures.

Pressure too high. check pressure, , check pressure reducing valve

turn off water to aeverything that uses water and see if it helps, ie; turn your bathroom stuff off, then go to the closest water source(another bathroom,) and try it there. In most cases its something like the toilet fill, or a small leak on the valve supplying the fixture(s).

 

[Scott Smith]

I had a water hammer problem myself....here was the solution from a plumber friend (it worked for me).



open all your cold water valves and while the system is running, shut off the mane. Close all the valves, turn the mane back on and pressurize the pipes. May take several tries. If this does not work, follow the same procedure except when you repressurize, leave all the valves running, closing one at a time. Water hammer is caused by a pocket of air in the pipe...usually at an elbow. If the above does not work. You need to find the location of the hammer (air pocket) and have a dead end installed (a pipe that goes nowhere 2 to 6 inches long, with a closed end obviously), which is somewhere for the air to be relieved or escape. I'm no expert but this is how it was explained to me...I solved mine by purging the system. Oh, and I'm on city water...no well.

 

[Mark Gross]

You might check the main shut-off and make sure the valve is wide open.



Mark

 

[TritonGlenn]

Thanks everyone. I feel better knowing it's only an air problem. I have plenty of water pressure - today was the first day I ran my lawn sprinkler... for about 20 minutes.... and now my pipes aren't doing it anymore. Thanks again!

All the best,

Glenn

 

[Carl S]

If your house was plumbed correctly, each and every faucet will have an air chamber behind the walls. These are there to absorb shock via trapped air when a faucet or solenoid operated valve are tuned off quickly such as a diswasher or washing machine. Over time the chambers may loose the air cushion and thus funny noises may start to arise.

To add or replenish the column of air in the chambers, turn off your water supply and open all your hot and cold water faucets and allow the house to drain down. Close the faucets and open your water valve to refill the house. This will add the air back into the chambers and hopefully will correct the problem .